As the federal government undertakes the largest financial bailout in history, Orange County's toll road agency is asking for its own hefty government handout.
The agency is seeking a $1.1-billion loan of taxpayer money to shore up the finances of its network of turnpikes. The reason? As gas prices gyrate and the economy flounders, drivers -- and the revenue they bring -- have been deserting the toll roads.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, October 18, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 65 words Type of Material: Correction
Toll agency loan: A headline on an article in Friday's California section about the effort by Orange County's Transportation Corridor Agencies to acquire a $1.1-billion government loan said the agency is requesting a federal bailout. The word "bailout" should not have been used. The agency is requesting a federal loan, to be repaid with future toll road revenue, to help refinance the agency's existing debt.
The Transportation Corridor Agencies is seeking to merge its two distinct arms -- separate agencies that oversee different roads but share a single staff. The government loan, the largest of its kind, would help refinance the agencies' $4.6 billion in existing debt.
Critics condemn the effort, saying that the agency is reneging on a promise to never use public money for its highways. They also contend that the loan would divert scarce federal funds away from new transportation projects nationwide.
If the loan and merger go through, the renamed Transportation Corridor System would be more efficient and have stronger finances to better improve the 51-mile network of roads, said agency spokeswoman Lisa Telles.
The request for $1.1 billion from the federal government was not a reversal of earlier pledges to avoid taxpayer financing, she said, because the loan would be repaid with future toll road revenue.
"Certainly in the past we have not utilized tax dollars for the majority of the project," Telles said, adding that the loan would lower the agency's interest rate on the refinanced debt by at least a couple of percentage points. The restructuring would also include the issuance of new toll revenue bonds.
According to the agency's website,, current bonds "can only be repaid by future tolls and development fees, taxpayers are not responsible for repaying the debt if future toll revenues fall short."
But foes of a proposed toll road extension through south Orange County labeled the move a "total reversal" of the agency's assurance that toll revenues and development fees would cover the cost of the roads. And they voiced concern that dwindling use of the roads could leave taxpayers footing the bill.
"It's becoming increasingly clear the toll roads are not performing as promised," said Bill White, an attorney who works with the Save San Onofre Coalition, an array of conservation groups fighting the proposed 16-mile extension of the 241 toll road through a state park in north San Diego County. "Things have gone from very bad to much worse."
